Anglian Learning, an East Anglian based multi-academy trust, created a Trust-wide collaboration with cultural partner Stapleford Granary, for 520 Key Stage 2 pupils from 11 primary schools. The Tin Forest project was a musical, theatrical experience where inclusive creative participation for every pupil was central, and Arts Award Discover was planned to fit alongside.
In this blog, Emma Mason, Music Subject Lead at Linton Heights Junior School (a member school of the trust), reflects on how the project grew from an existing partnership, how Arts Award Discover was delivered at scale, and what the impact has been for pupils and staff.
From shared core values to a Trust-wide creative project
At Anglian Learning, our core purpose is ‘transforming together’. That belief underpins everything we do and includes a strong commitment to the creative arts as a way of enabling inclusive and aspirational learning across our schools. Creative subjects break down barriers that other areas of the curriculum can sometimes put up, particularly for pupils who thrive through doing.
The project grew from an existing partnership between Stapleford Community Primary School and Stapleford Granary, a regional cultural venue with a strong track record of creative collaboration and an innovative approach to arts education. The results of this twinning over three years have been game-changing, with measurable impact on school culture, learning, behaviour, teacher confidence and reputational strength.
With Kate Romano, Chief Executive and Artistic Director at Stapleford Granary, we developed The Tin Forest project: an immersive, participatory performance event, inspired by the book written by Helen Ward and its powerful illustrations by Wayne Anderson. From the outset, our plan was to create something theatrical, memorable, ambitious and achievable, rooted in participation and shaped by the involvement of each individual school.
Because it is so accessible for Key Stage 2, Arts Award Discover felt like the perfect fit to recognise the children’s creative achievements and Arts Award Discover offered a way to enable large numbers of pupils to consolidate their adventure and reflect on the impact of what they learned through this shared magical experience.
Delivering an Arts Award Discover experience where pupils became the performance
The Tin Forest was designed as a bespoke, immersive performance experience. Pupils were not coming to watch a show; they were the show — actively participating in a range of creative activities that reflected Arts Award Discover’s focus on identifying different art forms, from the familiar to the unfamiliar, and learning by taking part. That principle shaped every creative decision we made.
The performance combined images, bespoke lighting, live music, puppetry, sound and song. Using the story as a framework, pupils created rainstorms, mechanical rhythms and moments of stillness together, joining in through shared body percussion, singing and movement as the story was read aloud and Wayne Anderson’s images emerged as projections through a forest silhouette (a floor-to-ceiling proscenium).
Children sorted recycling, added tiny lights, tin cans and flowers to a tangled metal sculpture; and played musical instruments to create ‘dream music’. Although these participatory elements had been prepared and pre-planned, none of the children had any idea how they were going to be incorporated into the immersive experience until they were in the performance space. The atmosphere in the Granary’s beautiful Concert Hall was palpable, with children completely absorbed in the sounds they were creating collectively; responding without verbal instruction and instinctively following the unfolding narrative.
Arts Award partner, BBC Ten Pieces resources from the ‘Connect-It’ repertoire provided classroom support, but preparation was intentionally light. Using the resources, teachers introduced simple body percussion patterns using video resources, often as short warm-ups at the beginning or end of the day, and some schools taught songs through whole-school or class singing. In art lessons, pupils created paper flowers ahead of the performance, with this work later forming part of the forest scenery and reinforcing their connection to the project. We also created bespoke resources, in the form of a Teacher’s Pack, to ensure there was further support for teachers if required.
Schools could do as much or as little in advance as suited their context with preparation and shared resources designed to be flexible rather than prescriptive, so pupils could still take part fully even if they arrived knowing only the basics.
Importantly, the experience was planned to be fully inclusive, reflecting both Anglian Learning’s aim for every pupil to Belong By Design and Stapleford Granary’s charitable aim to ignite and prolong lifetime curiosity in the arts. Participation was collective and largely non-verbal, which removed performance anxiety and enabled SEND pupils to be fully involved. Pupils took on defined roles during the performance, responding to visual cues rather than spoken instructions, and creativity unfolded naturally in the moment.
Supporting curiosity through choice and structure
Work on Arts Award Discover continued once pupils were back in their own classrooms, knowing that they had taken part in an inspirational, high quality arts activity. Anglian Learning Arts Development Manager, Lesley Morgan provided support and experience, and also secured a grant to cover the cost of up to 500 Arts Award Discover entries, again ensuring every pupil had the opportunity to achieve.
To support the ‘Find out’ element of Arts Award Discover (Part B), where young people find out about an artist and their work, we created further shared resources in the form of a Canva presentation for colleagues across the Trust. This introduced pupils to the creative team behind The Tin Forest project, with detailed information about the author and illustrator of The Tin Forest, the musicians and composers whose work featured in the performance, and the wider production roles involved.
The approach continued to be deliberately flexible, so colleagues could progress in the best way to suit their own setting. Some schools chose whole-class research, while others encouraged individual choice, particularly with upper Key Stage 2 pupils. Clear scaffolding was in place, for both staff and pupils, but there was permission to adapt and explore. Success was almost inevitable as we believe that when pupils are excited by what they participate in, curiosity follows naturally.
Sharing learning in ways that suited each school
Sharing (for Part C) looked different in every school, and that was intentional to allow schools to adapt the project into their curriculum time. Some pupils created mood boards linked to their art curriculum, using colours, images and ideas inspired by The Tin Forest performance, and shared these with parents for feedback. Others chose to write and share an account of the aspects of the experience they enjoyed during an English lesson, and some schools expressed their enjoyment of the body percussion parts of the performance, followed by a demonstration in assemblies or with parents. One school additionally recorded a performance and included this as a QR code in pupils’ Arts Award logs, allowing parents to hear the work their children had created, as well as read about it.
What mattered was that sharing was meaningful and manageable, embedded into existing school structures rather than added as an extra task, so pupils could talk about and celebrate what they had done.
Capturing evidence without overburdening teachers
Every pupil received a beautifully produced A5 booklet from Stapleford Granary, with an Arts Award Discover log inserted at the centre. Schools chose how pupils recorded their evidence, through writing, drawing, or photographs.
Some schools enlarged the booklets to A4 or added extra pages. Others kept them exactly as they were. Each school had the freedom to use the log in a way that suited their pupils. The focus was always on the doing, not the paperwork.
The impact of Arts Award Discover on pupil engagement
The immediate impact of The Tin Forest project was clear to see. During the performances, pupils were completely absorbed in the experience, responding to the sounds, movement and shared moments they were creating together. Many spoke about the excitement of being part of something larger than themselves, with a strong sense of pride in knowing that everyone had a role to play.
Arts Award Discover helped to give shape to that experience. Because pupils were working towards a clear outcome, participation felt purposeful, and the follow-up work in school allowed them to reflect on what they had done, deepen their understanding and share their learning in ways that felt achievable. For many pupils, this was their first experience of an accredited arts qualification, and that sense of achievement was significant.
The inclusive and accessible structure of Arts Award Discover supported engagement across different age groups and needs. Parts B and C were completed, with support from adults who knew the pupils well, allowing children to build confidence at their own pace. Pupils’ feedback during and after the project repeatedly reflected excitement, a strong sense of inclusion and pride in taking part.
The impact has extended beyond the pupils themselves. The project has generated renewed enthusiasm among staff, with six teachers now keen to train as Arts Award advisers for their own schools. A legacy video capturing pupil voice from the project is nearly ready to be shared, helping to extend the learning and celebration beyond the original performances.
Practical lessons from delivering Arts Award Discover at scale
If I were to offer advice to other schools or Trusts looking to deliver Discover with large groups, it would be this: set high expectations, but be ready to scaffold support. When planning your Arts Award delivery, focus on the ‘Take Part’ element, because securing meaningful participation from the start is the most important aspect. It is also the key to ensuring pupil and staff engagement, enabling momentum to gather for completing the other parts.
Secure senior leader buy-in early, keep preparation purposeful rather than heavy and build on existing partnerships and proven successes. Work out funding and logistics early, and consider local cultural partners who are Arts Award Supporter organisations. As Laura Rawlings, Deputy Director of Primary Education at Anglian Learning says, “By engaging with the transformative nature of the arts, children develop the critical thinking, confidence, and communication skills that underpin all their learning.”
With the right team of engaged people, delivering Arts Award Discover at scale is absolutely possible and develops the confidence and curiosity that helps every child thrive in their wider learning.